Early November saw the launch of a new strand of ResCen, the Research Centre of Middlesex University. This strand is dedicated to the reaching and works of Robert Cohan, a dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company and now a teacher and choreographer in his own right.
Cohan went on to establish The Place, London, with Robin Howard, and London Contemporary Dance Theatre, bringing a specific style of contemporary dance to the UK.
The students at Middlesex University are taught the Cohan method of the Graham technique by Anne Donnelly, a student descendant, passed down from teacher to student to teacher again, creating a legacy which is both complemented and supported by ResCen. The Cohan method does not differ widely from pure Graham technique; the principles of movement remain the same, just with the additions of Cohan’s profound teaching method and incorporation of the body and mind.
Robert Cohan, is the founding artistic director of The Place alongside Robin Howard, who financed the years following The Place’s inception. It was born from the journey of the Martha Graham technique from America to London by Cohan, seeing his work and legacy documented in by his colleagues and students to preserve his teaching method and also include interviews about his ethos and various works.
Now The Place is home to many contemporary and jazz classes, alongside the Richard Alston Dance Company and London Contemporary Dance School, no longer London Contemporary Dance Theatre which became the recipient company of London Contemporary Dance School students. The Place offers termly classes in techniques such as Release, Cunningham, Limón and Graham, alongside some ballet and jazz.
Britain’s national contemporary dance company Rambert has taken up residence in its new home on London’s South Bank, which includes dance studios, treatment and body conditioning rooms, workshops, offices and an archive. The location has been made available to Rambert by Coin Street Community Builders in return for a commitment to provide a significant community dance programme in the local area, and for a rent of one pair of ballet shoes a year. The facility will nurture, develop and realise the creative visions of the best of today and tomorrow’s choreographers and dancers; the ambition is that the landmark dances for the next 100 years will be created in the building, therefore giving dance a permanent home on the South Bank
A Bristol fitness instructor and diet adviser Sarah Buscemi has added a new Strictly-themed exercise regime to her usual repertoire to enable clients to dance their way to fitness with a new Strictly-themed workout programme. Sarah has joined other Rosemary Conley consultants around the country to train in FitSteps, which was launched earlier this year by Strictly stars Natalie Lowe and Ian Waite.
Phoenix Dance Theatre has grown over the last thirty years to become a renowned and respected British dance company. Founded in inner-city Leeds, the company has become a leading contemporary company and now completes both national and international tours in the aim to bring inspiring and entertaining dance to the widest possible audience.
The Dance Section of the Critics’ Circle has announced the list of nominations for the 14th National Dance Awards, to be awarded at a central London venue on 27 January 2014. The National Dance Awards have been organised each year since 2000, celebrating the variety of Britain’s dance culture. They are the only awards given by the body of professional dance critics in the UK.
The UK’s largest dance house, Sadler’s Wells, has announced plans for a new performance space as part of its recent ten year plan. The vision of Artistic Director and Chief Executive, Alistair Spalding, is one which is ambitious, but exciting for a city in which dance thrives. The announcement came almost ten years after he was appointed in his current role, and outlines plans for the next decade.
2013 marks the 25th anniversary of English National Ballet School, to be celebrated by a series of events which showcase the skills and talents of the students. The events will kick off with a 90 minute live broadcast from the School on 28 November, during which audiences will have a unique insight into a day in the life of the students. Also included in the broadcast will be an interview with Tamara Rojo, Artistic Director of English National Ballet, with the School being a common feeder for the main company.
The Royal Ballet has recently hit cinemas all over America and is continuing to do! Select cinemas throughout the United States will present the 2013 ‘Royal Opera House Ballet Series,’ featuring 3, one-night-only screenings of the new Don Quixote staged by and starring Carlos Acosta, Christopher Wheeldon’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and Peter Wright’s classic production of The Nutcracker. High definition cameras are used to film the performances, which provide multiple points of view including close-ups and wide shots with a Royal Opera House production truck transmitting the live feed via satellite to the US.
The National Youth Dance Company is an exciting new company, as part of Sadler’s Wells, that aims to create and perform innovative and influential youth dance. It has announced that it will be working with Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist and acclaimed choreographer Akram Khan as next guest Artistic Director. Following the company’s work with similarly celebrated choreographer Jasmin Vardimon, 30 new members will joining the current company to present a new work specifically created for NYDC; the piece will receive its world premiere on 16 April 2014 at Sadler’s Wells. The new work will be performed as part of a double bill that will feature a reworked excerpt of Khan’s Vertical Road.